Duke University Hospital REFUSED to conduct Yulia's kidney transplant surgery because she is not vaccinated. A horrible injustice in itself, now the Hick's family must pay for out-of-state travel and lodging expenses for not only Yulia and her mother, but also her potential donor! The transplant process is not easy nor quick. Between the numerous pre-surgery tests, the procedure itself, recovery and the years of regular appointments, the whole endeavor is now financially IMPOSSIBLE for the large Hicks family.
The Hicks family adopted Yulia from the Ukraine in January of 2021 knowing that she had a genetic kidney condition that would eventually require surgery. She fit in right away with Lee and Chrissy's 10 other children, 2 of which are also adopted. 14 year old Yulia (pictured center) is outgoing and always positive despite the hardships in her life, to include the last 15 months of DAILY dialysis. Please help save Yulia's life by making her surgery possible. For the sake of Christ crucified, donate what you can to this wonderful family that has done so much good for others. Learn more about Yulia and her family at Yuliagrace.com. May God bless you.
UPDATES
Yulia's Law August 31, 2023
We are on the cusp of getting this law passed in the legislature! It already passed in the House, now we need the Senate to pass it! We need your help! Please email the senators listed below and demand they vote on it and get it to the senate floor. Let's make NC a transplant sanctuary! There are people contacting us still frequently asking how they can get an unvaccinated transplant. We need this to pass here in NC and spread to other states! Now is the time to take a stand!
Yulia is doing great. She has a bit of a cold right now and with low WBCs, we have to be careful. Please say a prayer that it passes quickly.
Our next mission is to get Yulia's law passed in NC and every other state to stop the medical tyranny. This is our latest interview with LTC Allen West.
https://youtu.be/FiixxNdy5dY
Update #16 June 21, 2023
Yulia is doing great! We have another request. There are 2 more kids we know that are listed and need unvaccinated kidneys. Kaden needs an O+ kidney and Samuel Rankin needs an A+ kidney. Both are trying for a transplant at Medical City Dallas. You can try to be a potential donor at https://medicalcityhealthcare.com/patients-visitors/living-donor/
You do not have to travel to Dallas to donate. You can donate at a center closer to you and the kidney will travel to Dallas. Our donor was from Kentucky and only the kidney traveled.
Kaden's story:
Kaden's kidneys shut down at the age of 16, actually this week exactly 4 years ago. She has been on dialysis since. It was an autoimmune disease called Wegener's, super rare for her age. It has been very fatiguing for her. We have since kept the inflammation at bay with diet since then. She is a precious, faith filled homeschooled Christian girl who is now 20. We did peritoneal dialysis 11 hours a night for 3 years. We then battled peritonitis last summer and we do home hemo 5 nights a week.
Back in 2019 her pediatric nephrologist said she would get her listed, but did not work to do so until the last couple of months before Kaden turned 18, so she missed that window. We got her listed with Mayo in the fall of 2021, but were told a week later she had to take the COVID shots, which she turned down. She was put on the inactive list. In July of 2022 she was worked up by St. Josephs in Phoenix because they did not mandate the shots, but every one of the team during work up said, " it was unfortunate that they did not mandate it." After passing with flying colors, they turned her down, stating that she exhibited counterproductive behavior.
After searching for over a year and knowing that she cannot live on dialysis, she was contemplating taking the shots, though we believe that to be wholly unacceptable. Then a friend sent us your information and Kaden is now listed with Medical City Dallas. Thanks and Praise be to God!
Thank you for standing up for Yulia and for the rest of people who need help.
Samuel's story:
Samuel is Yulia's age. I met his mom through this process. He has nephritis syndrome FSGS. He was diagnosed in 2014 and has been on dialysis for many years. He received a kidney off the donor list (deceased) a month before Yulia. They would not tell his mom if the donor had been vaccinated against covid 19. We suspect that he was as the kidney clotted while the rest of Samuel's body was bleeding out. After a week of in and out of the OR, the kidney was finally deemed a failure and was removed in his 4th surgery in a week. Samuel needs a live donor asap.
Thank you all for loving us and helping us to help others!
Yulia has a new kidney! May 26, 2023
Yulia got her new kidney last night. She had an amazing live donor. His initials are JJ. Please pray for his recovery. He is a hero. Yulia is recovering very well.
We want to thank the entire team at ECUHealth for everything, especially Dr. Leeser, Dr. Romine, Cynthia Stone, and Allyson Ayers..They are the most caring and professional team that we have encountered on this journey.
Thank you also to the media outlets who helped us especially The National File, Stew Peters, Tucker Carlson, Alex Berenson, The Daily Wire, Michael Knowles, John Bachman, Allie Stuckey, Children's Health Defense, Steve Nobles, EWTN, Lifeline, Blaze TV, Victory News and Informed Dissent media. Without the media attention, we would not have found our amazing live donor, JJ.
We are now focusing our attention on Yulia's healing, getting Yulia's law passed, and the lawsuit with Duke.
Yulia's law (NC586) has passed the NC House overwhelmingly. It is sitting in the Senate and in danger of not getting passed. Please call the NC legislature asking them to pass this law.
We are also still raising money for legal fees for our lawsuit against Duke. What they did to our daughter was unconsciousable.
Again thank you all for the love, support, and prayers. To God be the glory.
Update #14 May 22, 2023
I am going to try to update here throughout surgery but the site keeps crashing on me. I will also post to her caringbridge site.
Thank you all for being such great supporters of our journey! This is the week we have been waiting for!
Update #13 May 19, 2023
You all are amazing prayer warriors! I sent this update and got a call about 30 minutes later that we have a kidney and are going to transplant on Thursday! Thank you! Please keep praying! Yulia is is in great spirits. She has learned to take life one day at a time.
Update #12 May 19, 2023
There has been a mix up with our donor. Our donation center tried to fix it with the National Kidney Registry with no luck. Please pray for a resolution however God sees fit to get us on the path to transplant sooner rather than later.
Update #11 May 10, 2023
We are so thankful for all of the love and support you have shown Yulia and our whole family. Yulia has a live donor and she will have her transplant the end of May. Deo gratias!
There is another boy, Samuel, who is Yulia's age who had a transplant recently but it failed because the kidney kept clotting. We would love to use this platform to find him a live unvaccinated donor as well. He is blood type A+. He will transplant at Medical City in Dallas. The website for donation is https://medicalcityhealthcare.com/patients-visitors/living-donor/
Please share this info so that we can save Sam's life too! Thank you.
Update #10 May 2, 2023
Today Yulia's Law passed the NC House 92-24. It will head to the senate. Pray it passes and is signed into law. You can read it here. https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2023/H586
Update #9 April 27, 2023
Just letting you all know that this morning, Yulia's law passed the NC House Health committee and will move to Rules committee. This law will forbid health care from being withheld based on covid vaccination status. Please pray for its success and to be signed into law. Thank you all for your continued support and love. Update to lawsuit against Duke will be forthcoming..
Update #8 April 13, 2023
We found out today that Yulia has a living donor approved. We should be moving to transplant fairly soon...like within a month. Please thank God for this amazing human for donating life to Yulia. Please also keep us and the donor in prayer!
Update #7 April 7, 2023
Just wanted to jump on and let you know that we are still in a holding pattern. The hospital says they are actively working through 4-6 potential donors now. We know that God's timing is perfect. We are also fervently praying for a miraculous cure. As we remember today Who paid for our salvation, please storm Heaven for His perfect answer.
Update #6 March 25, 2023
Just jumping on to give another update. Duke filed a request to have our case dismissed. It is maddening that these giants think they can deny care with no repercussions. We should hear from our lawyer next week on the plan.
We know some potential donors are being tested. We really need to identify her donor soon. Her BUN is rising so we need to transplant in the next few months.
As always thank you for your prayers and financial support. We know that God has a way forward. Thank you again.
Update #5 March 7, 2023
Hello all,
First off, I am so sorry for the long lag in sending another update. Life has been crazy. We had alot of work to do to finally find Yulia a hospital that would do the transplant without the jab. She is now active on a list at a hospital 3 hours from home. We are still testing donors to find her a perfect match. Please pray that we can identify one soon. Until then, we are doing daily dialysis and her numbers look great.
As far as Duke goes, we officially served them the lawsuit last week. We know that they have given at least one unvaccinated kidney transplant around the time they denied Yulia. We don't know why, but we feel we have to keep fighting for justice. Yulia will not have her transplant there but we hope to hold Duke accountable for their despicable behavior. We don't know the extent of our legal fees yet. We are stepping out in faith and praying and hoping that God will provide for our every need.
Again, thank you for standing with us in this battle. Please continue to pray and spread the word.
Update #4 December 21, 2022
We have made progress towards identifying a hospital in Florida. We should know soon. Once that has been done, we will email potential donors the link to get started.
Yulia is doing well. She is excited to celebrate the birth of Jesus!
May God bless you all richly this Christmas season!
Update #3 December 9, 2022
Today has been another crazy day. We were supposed to be on Tucker Carlson but got pushed until tomorrow night if you want to tune in.
We remain grateful for your support!
Update #2 December 8, 2022
It has been a crazy day! Alex Berenson cracked this open, and we are so grateful to him! We have been contacted by many other outlets.
Tonight we retained a lawyer to help us fight Duke and praying we can change the policy for others.
We increased the amount we are trying to raise because we know we will have legal fees, and we don't know the extent of our bills for travel, etc as we will likely be going out of state for transplant.
We are hoping by Friday, we will have a medical center identified so we can have potential donors get tested.
We are overwhelmed by the generosity we have been shown. Our God is great! He will not abandon us.
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me." Psalm 23, verse 4.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY! Lee and Chrissy Hicks
Update #1 December 6, 2022
We are overwhelmed by the support from you all! Thank you is not enough!
We have been contacted by a number of people today who have lifted us up and are working other avenues for us!
We will update as soon as know more on progress toward another medical center.
Thank you again! Chrissy
PRAYER REQUESTS
We have met many other kidney families on this journey. One little guy just got a call for a kidney. Please pray for the soul who has lost his life to give life to this little guy. And please pray for S as he goes into surgery. Pray the kidney takes and that God guides the surgeon's hands. Thanks!
